Special Lecture (4)
After days filled with worry, the Magic Tower Master was finally enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
"Hmm."
Going by his expression alone, one might ask what exactly looked enjoyable about it—but the subtle upward curve at the corners of his mouth hovered right at the edge of a smile.
Scratch, scratch.
He reviewed the research results and papers submitted by the mages and continued signing off on them one after another.
He could not stop there. He also had to allocate research funding and report anything the Imperial Court needed to know.
"Good thing I cleared my entire schedule for this week."
The Magic Tower Master checked next week's itinerary and reviewed what needed to be done.
Discussion of the Demon incursion at the academy.
Discussion of supplying Magic Devices to the academy and the knight orders.
A summons from the Imperial Court regarding Karon’s Artifact.
Inspection of underperforming laboratories.
And so on...
He shook his head as he looked at the densely packed schedule.
"He really is busy."
He'd had several appointments that week originally, but the moment he heard that Ayla was coming from the Magic Tower, he postponed every single one to the following week.
He had wanted to rush out and welcome Ayla the instant she returned after so long, but he waited quietly in his office.
As always, he wanted to quietly give Ayla whatever she needed and remain a strong shelter at her back.
Those efforts must have paid off, because Ayla's expression was genuinely bright.
The worry that had been palpable the day she first left the Magic Tower was gone, and she had returned having grown considerably.
Ayla had barely arrived at the office before her eyes were sparkling as she launched into stories about the Academy.
Spending time with her while she was as giddy as an excited puppy, the Magic Tower Master lost all track of time.
As Ayla’s stories about the academy began to wind down,
The Magic Tower Master casually mentioned Spring Day and shifted the topic.
—Ayla. I heard you were the first to solve Spring Day.
—Yes, that's right.
—I see. Well done.
At that, Ayla gave a bashful smile, pulled the column from her robes, and demonstrated the solution right then and there.
Up to that point, he had been genuinely happy.
Because his proud disciple had shown how much she had grown.
But it didn't end there.
After Karon came to visit, he witnessed with his own eyes that Ayla had bloomed in full.
At first, he thought it was simply a lie.
But when he saw the traces of mana scattering behind Ayla's back moments later, he had no choice but to accept it.
'She was so happy when she told me Karon said it was her innate power...'
Ayla's talent and effort were so dazzling that admiration came unbidden.
At the same time, Karon's Mana Control ability bordered on awe-inspiring.
Looking back on it now, Karon stood at the center of everything that had been happening at the Academy.
"I never thought that fellow would change this much..."
At first, he couldn't believe the intelligence that Karon had taken up an instructor post at the Academy.
And when he heard that Karon would be teaching the disciple he cherished, he quietly kept an eye on him, worried he might cross the line.
He was anxious enough to contact the chancellor just to urge him to be vigilant.
But that was brief.
Karon adapted his own methods to the Academy's ways and taught diligently.
He guided the students through a process that could have overwhelmed them with an impeccable sense of pacing.
He could accept everything up to that point. Then he learned what came next and clutched the back of his neck in shock:
training by deliberately overloading the Mana Circuit.
Even the Magic Tower Master, who had spent decades immersed in the path of magic, had never seen or heard of such a thing.
Even conceding a hundred times over that it might be theoretically possible, no one would ever attempt it.
Why?
The Mana Circuit was the vessel that held one's mana, the equivalent of a heart in human terms.
Once damaged, one had to devote everything to recovery, and permanent injury was catastrophic.
In the worst-case scenario, it could even lead to death.
So, effectiveness aside, he had resolved to meet Karon in person and verify the method’s safety first...
But the Magic Tower Master had been forgetting that Karon himself stood at the pinnacle of Mana Control.
'Should I just be grateful that someone crazy enough to do this is also skilled enough to pull it off...?'
Karon repeatedly induced Mana Circuit overload, controlled it with Mana Interference, and flooded the students with Top-Grade Potions to force recovery.
He was tempering their Mana Circuits the way a smith tempered steel.
Thanks to that, the students attending his lectures had come to possess levels far exceeding the average.
Gilbert and Camilla alone had physiques superior to those of most new Magic Tower recruits.
The Magic Tower Master took this opportunity to revise his assessment of Karon.
"When I first met him, he was bristling with killing intent every moment. Now he seems to have loosened up somewhat."
He slowly drummed his fingers on the desk.
Then he looked at the Academy column Ayla had brought.
"Maybe that killing intent is aimed only at Demons now."
He gave Karon bonus points for the change since their first encounter and for the faint glimpse of an educator's qualities that had surfaced.
"It’s about time I wrapped this up."
He set aside the brief enjoyment Ayla had given him.
The time had come for the day's final task—inspecting the Barrier.
The Magic Tower Master quickly manipulated the Barrier and checked whether there were any problems inside the Magic Tower.
He nodded at the Barrier functioning no differently than usual and was about to conclude—
"Hold on?"
He sensed an odd mana fluctuation on the middle floor.
It was mana he felt he had seen somewhere before, yet it felt as though he were seeing it for the first time.
"No way? That can’t be... Surely not."
The Magic Tower Master hurriedly concentrated on analyzing that specific mana fluctuation.
It was so intricately twisted that identifying it proved difficult along the way.
But he realized that someone had pierced through the Barrier's weaknesses and brazenly deceived the Magic Tower.
"No wonder the Barrier wouldn’t even activate that day..."
Belatedly grasping that he had been dealt a blow, the Magic Tower Master pressed firmly against his forehead and shot up from his seat.
"If that fellow has drawn up his mana, it can’t be a good sign."
He immediately activated the Barrier and collected the surrounding mana fluctuations.
Near Karon were Elder Bernard, two mages who followed him, and Ayla.
Based on this, the Magic Tower Master reconstructed the situation that must have unfolded on the middle floor.
"Hmm..."
If it wasn't a demon, then Karon, who had been behaving himself all this time, had suddenly drawn his blade.
'Why? For what reason?'
Only futile questions circled after that, going nowhere.
Just as the answer was about to vanish into the labyrinth without being found.
"Could it be?"
The Magic Tower Master, who had been hastily preparing to leave, stopped dead in his tracks.
In that moment, a single possibility surfaced.
That Elder Bernard had touched someone within Karon's fence.
And the most likely person within that fence was Ayla.
'I need to step in before it's too late.'
Even if Karon's Level had dropped because of the Artifact, he was not an opponent to be underestimated.
To begin with, his Mana Control prowess was in a category of its own.
Even so, there was only one reason Karon sought to raise his Level.
To gain the upper hand in his dealings with the Empire.
He had probably calculated everything carefully to eliminate any excuse the Empire might use against him for killing Demons.
Chimera in particular was a Demon that had to be dealt with quickly, which made Level 6 or higher necessary.
The Magic Tower Master belatedly noticed the thoroughness and let out a hollow laugh.
"Even I was played by him, it seems."
In any case.
Even if Karon couldn't overcome a two-Level gap, using his superior Mana Control to slowly bleed an opponent dry was entirely possible.
If it escalated into a duel, Elder Bernard would not come out unscathed.
Before even assigning blame, the Magic Tower Master rushed toward the middle floor to protect Elder Bernard's safety.
* * *
"...Did you call me a Level 7 nobody?"
My provocation had clearly worked. The elder glared at me, radiating menace.
He walked toward me with an expression that looked ready to tear into me at any moment.
"Yes. If you can’t recognize Ayla’s talent, then ‘nobody’ sounds about right."
"Goodness. A little praise and you've gotten rather full of yourself, I see."
The elder unleashed his mana and threatened me.
Without the slightest change in expression, I slowly nodded.
"Since I possess better discernment than you, I suppose I have gotten a little full of myself."
"Impertinent. Do you truly believe that a mere Level 5 surpasses a Level 7?"
Before I could even answer, the elder rattled off whatever he wanted to say.
"The Magic Tower Master was already Level 5 at that age. No—he was on the verge of Level 6."
"Ayla will get there too."
"She's only Level 4 now, and you're saying she'll follow in the Magic Tower Master's footsteps? There are limits to nonsense."
I had wanted to persuade him through dialogue if possible, but I no longer wished to exchange words with someone who couldn't recognize Ayla's talent.
From here on, it was time to settle things with skill.
"A Level 7 who can’t act like one... No wonder the Magic Tower’s Barrier gets breached all the time."
"Wh-what did you just say?"
I felt the elder's rage reach its limit as he gathered his mana.
I erased his move with Mana Interference.
"Wh-what?"
He tried a few more times after that, but every attempt turned to nothing.
I tilted my head and asked with complete composure.
"You wanted a duel, but can't manage one?"
"I’m unusually tired today... Urgh..."
"You can't even block Mana Interference from a Level 5. How could you possibly handle a duel?"
"Don't spout nonsense! How could a Level 5 possibly... against a Level 7...!"
No matter how hard he tried, it was nothing but a waste of effort.
I considered dragging him into a duel and making him sweat blood, but it would only waste time.
"So know your place."
"...!"
The elder's expression tightened with tension as he swallowed dryly.
As if he had no further intention of picking a fight, the ferocious air around him vanished in an instant.
I pulled out my pocket watch and checked the time.
"Five minutes..."
It was about time for the Magic Tower Master to arrive.
"What is going on here!"
Having noticed through the Barrier installed in the Magic Tower, the Magic Tower Master appeared with clockwork precision.
He rushed over to Ayla first and asked in a voice full of genuine concern.
"Ayla, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Master."
Then he turned his head and fixed me with a look that demanded an explanation.
"Keep it brief."
"I only used Mana Interference."
"...Understood."
After that, conversation passed between the Magic Tower Master and the elder.
From what I caught in passing, the Magic Tower Master seemed to be telling him that I was a mage specially dispatched by the Imperial Court and that he should not judge me by Level alone.
Once that minor commotion passed, there wasn't much else.
After putting the elder in his place in a reasonably satisfying manner, I had a simple dinner with Ayla.
Then we moved to the VIP guest quarters and spent a comfortable evening.
Everything I needed was provided, and the Grimoires on the bookshelf were particularly appealing.
"Never thought I’d live to get this kind of treatment at the Magic Tower."
I was just thinking that you truly never knew what life would bring—
Knock, knock.
Someone came looking for me at a late hour.
Did the Magic Tower Master have a matter to discuss with me?
I closed the Grimoire and spoke to whoever was outside the door.
"Come in."
Moments later, Ayla, dressed in a robe, poked her head through the crack in the door, glanced around, and spotted me.
"I didn't wake you, did I, Instructor?"
"Not at all."
"Hmm! Then..."
Ayla subtly showed me another robe, identical to the one she was wearing.
"There's a place I absolutely want to visit with you, Instructor. Do you have time?"
"Of course I have time. Where are we going?"
"...It’s a secret!"
Ayla’s expression promised that if I followed her, I would not regret it.
I couldn't bring myself to refuse the offer.